The Mafia

Chapter 6

April studied her sister silently as she peeled her dress off slowly, getting ready for bed. She knew something had happened because the goofy looking smile wouldn't leave her face. Whether Raven would tell her whatever it was that had her smiling, however, was a different matter altogether. Whatever it was obviously involved Demetrio, though. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure that part out.

"So ... you planning on telling me what it is that has you looking like the Joker?" she asked with a teasing smile.

Raven's smile faded. She shook her head like she was clearing it of fog or something. "Nothing. I had a weird conversation with Zander, though." When April prompted her to continue she shied away and grabbed her toothbrush, shutting herself in the adjoining bathroom. Within the temporary makeshift haven, Raven mentally steeled herself for the thorough tongue lashing she was sure her younger sister would deliver once she found out what happened.

"Zander offered to sneak us out of the country." The megawatt smile on her younger sister's face had her feeling even worse about herself than she already did.

"That's great news, Vee! It's great! It's great ... isn't it?" she ended on unsure note when she saw that her enthusiasm wasn't shared.

"It would've been ... but I declined his offer."

She watched in shock as her younger sister smiled. It slowly spread into a grin, then she chuckled. The chuckle turned into a giggle, then a guffaw. "Is this a joke? You think this is funny?"

"Sweetie I wouldn't joke about this," she reached for April, who shoved her away.

"Damn it Raven, how could you do something so idiotic? This is not a game! We're stuck here. How the hell could you let a chance like this slip right through your fingers?" April's voice trailed off into a quieter tone but Raven still heard her. "It's Demetrio. You're staying for him. You're making us stay for him. Putting us both in danger ..."

Raven snorted. "That is not true."

April whirled around and pointed an accusing finger right in her older sister's face. "Isn't it? Why else? Why else would you let an opportunity to hop on the first plane out of here go like that?" she yelled. Raven took a few nervous strides to the door when she noticed it wasn't completely closed. She pushed it closed all the way.

"Keep your voice down!" she hissed, taking her own advice.

"What's the point? Either way, we're stuck here for the rest of our lives! Oh, Raven what have you done?" April collapsed to the floor in a fit of sobs. Raven did not even hesitate to sink down on the carpeted space beside her. She wrapped her arm supportively around April, ignoring her feeble attempts to push her away. It was the first time she realised that April was just as scared as she was, maybe even more. She was just really good at putting a brave face on. A surge of pride swelled up inside her as she rocked her sister back and forth slowly.

"These people are dangerous, April. We forget about it because we don't see them in action, but they are. Eventually they'll find out that Zander had a hand in helping us escape. You know what would happen then, don't you?"

She detached herself from April and went to the glass doors leading to their private balcony overlooking the pool area and a stunning horizon. Raven stared at the beautiful sight with worrisome thoughts. April let out a bitter, hollow laugh. "They'd kill him, wouldn't they? I mean, it would probably be quick, since he's family, but they'd still kill him."

"Exactly." Raven's voice broke on the last syllable. She shut her eyes tightly, trying to banish the dreaded image of Cosmo ... of Cris ... of Demetrio killing someone, anyone.

"I'm sorry I freaked out on you. I know you wouldn't put a guy over our freedom."

"No I wouldn't. But I did do something really stupid tonight. Involving him."

April snickered. "Shoved your tongue down his throat, did you?" Her silence said it all. "No! You didn't!" she gasped in shock then fell into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

"In my defence, I did have three glasses of wine earlier. I wasn't in a right state of mind." They both knew it was a feeble excuse.

"Well I'm proud of you, big sister. You finally got the courage to do what you've been wanting to do since you set your eyes on that man."

A pillow in the face triggered another laugh from her younger sister. "A bit of an exaggeration there, April."

"No it isn't! I was in the room with you when it happened. You were so caught up in those black eyes you didn't even know I was standing right next to you!" April exclaimed in mock hurt.

"Blue," Raven said absentmindedly.

"Huh?"

"His eyes. They're blue, a really dark blue, not black. You can only see it when they twinkle when he laughs."

"Oh, girl..."

"I know! How do I even know that? I didn't even know I said it until it was out."

April smiled at her sadly. She got up from the floor and pulled them both to the bed. "We'll get out of here one day, and then you'll forget about him. Just try to keep your distance in the meantime." Raven gave her a noncommittal nod. They sat there staring up at the ceiling for quite a while. Suddenly, a cheery smile lit April's face. "What we need is a nice, sappy chick flick with a warm, giant, teddy bear to squeeze through the whole thing. I'm pretty sure Cosmo isn't doing anything."

Although she didn't feel like it, especially when it was nearing midnight, Raven didn't have the heart to say no to April, especially after what they had just gone through. She figured Cosmo would cheer them up, even if he didn't know anything that was going on. Some enthusiasm made its way into her. She smiled. "You go get the teddy bear and the popcorn. I'll choose the movie."

***

Demetrio did not understand the situation he was in. He was tied in knots and it was over a woman; a mere slip of a girl actually. In his experience with the fairer s*x, he was always the one who called the shots. Raven was a whole different ball game for him and he didn't know what to do about her. He strode into the gym that was conveniently two doors down from Raven's room. He decided pushing himself to the maximum on the treadmill would be the only way he'd tire himself out enough to go right to bed. A half hour into his exercise routine he felt even worse than before.

He's deduced that the sisters were with Cosmo a half hour down the line. God only knew what they were doing, but he didn't like hearing the giggles that floated all the way to his ears. He didn't like how easily Raven laughed with Cosmo. He gritted his teeth in anger and increased the speed on the treadmill yet again. Even with his eyes locked to the ground and the blood pumping heavily in his ears, he knew the second she entered the room. He brought the machine down to a slow walk and jumped off to stand in front of her

He looked down at her from his great height and reluctantly accepted the cool bottle of water she offered him. "It's past midnight," Raven said matter-of-factly.

A charming grin lit his face, "It was either this or smoke." He continued when her eyes lowered in embarrassment. She'd obviously remembered the light kiss she'd given him earlier that evening. "I was going to go for a swim afterwards."

Raven watched silently as he unscrewed the water bottle and gulped down its entire contents. "Do you need company?" the offer slipped past her lips before she could even consider the implications of her words. He didn't respond, just offered her one large brawny hand. She took it without hesitation and let him lead her to the pool area. She had no intention of joining him, of course. She just planned on watching him.

He whipped his white vest off his sinewy skin in a flash and dived in. A large splash followed his dive, landing on Raven. She let out an outraged gasp. "You did that on purpose!" she stomped her foot childishly when she saw a boyish grin spread across his face at her expense.

His low rumbling laugh followed her loud exclamation, but she was too angry to revel in it as she usually would. They both looked up at Angelo's approaching figure. His footsteps sounded almost purposeful as he made his way toward the two of them. He went down on his knee at the poolside and whispered something in Demetrio's ear. Raven rolled her eyes at the scene. They were always so secretive!

She was surprised when Demetrio raised his dark eyes to look at her. The blue was completely taken over by a black glimmer. Whatever it was that Angelo had told him, it was bad news, she was sure of it. He pushed himself out of the water and Raven had to put a tight leash on her straying eyes, drawn to his physique as they were.

"Come with me," he said in a cold voice.

They walked in a tense silence towards the main house. When they stepped into his office, something, a sixth sense maybe, told her that they knew. Angelo went to an open laptop and fidgeted around with it until a window playing a video popped up. It showed her and April in their suite just a few minutes ago. She watched the screen, not daring to look up to see Demetrio's expression. She knew when Angelo had told him about it, he was hoping that there was some sort of mistake. He stopped the video before the part where she admitted her feelings for him came up, for which she would be eternally grateful.

Raven watched with dismay as, still bare chested, he pulled out a premium cigar from an open wooden box and lit it before taking a deep drag from it. He was trying to control his anger, but if his tightly clenched fists were any indication, it didn't help one little bit.

"Demetrio-"

He held up his right hand, the universal signal to shut the hell up. She backed away slowly. "Not one God damn word out of you," he said in a low, deceptively calm tone.

Raven shook her head sadly, not knowing what else to say. Even Angelo wouldn't look at her. Why couldn't they see that she had done nothing wrong? She stifled a sigh of exasperation and continued to slowly back away from the both of them.

"I'll just be in my room then," she said quietly when neither of them would even look at her.

"Yes you do that," Demetrio said. "And stay there until you're told otherwise."

She gave a jerky nod, she hadn't expected anything less. "Goodnight," she bid quietly, disappointed when neither of their eyes rose to meet hers, especially Demetrio's.